Twelve Months Until The Last Goodbye
by Veronica10
Summary: This idea just would not get out of my head. What if Grissom and Sara knew each other in another life. What if this life is their last chance? A little edgier than my usual fare, but give it a try.rnrnBig thanks to Joan, my awesome Beta! Story is Compl
1. Default Chapter

**12 Months to the Final Goodbye**

Chapter One- A Party and A Visitor

Nick's celebration party was the finest party in CSI History. Everyone was so happy when Nick returned from Dallas after recuperating from his ordeal with the madman, that Catherine threw a party at her house that would rival the most raucous frat party.

There was great food, a BBQ and lots of tequila. Young Sanders was foolish enough to challenge Grissom to a shoot out, where each man took turns picking the booze and doing a shot until the other man fell. Sanders did not have the bulk or the steely reserve of Grissom, and passed out six or seven shots into the contest, Grissom more than slightly drunk, walked around and noticed Sara, standing by the pool, watching the whole party with an amused grin.

"No tequila for you", Grissom smirked.

Sara cocked an eyebrow. "No, I lost paper, rock scissors to the guys and I am the designated driver. If you want a ride, you better watch it, 'cause if you puke in my truck, you replace.

Grissom laughed, "I am getting a ride home with Brass." He looked up and noticed Warrick and Nick sneaking behind Sara. As a matter of fact, I better find him; he neatly stepped away, as Nick and Warrick picked up Sara and threw her into the pool. Once Sara went in, Grissom was drunk, but not so drunk that he did not realize that he could be next, so he snuck off and found Jim to go home.

Grissom could not remember the last time he was so happy to see his bed.

Grissom heard a noise "Who's there."

He heard a laugh and not quite believing his eyes, saw Lady Heather in front of him, in a bizarre outfit.

He shouted, "What are you doing here?"

Lady Heather smirked, "You tell me Gilbert, it's your dream. Believe me; you can't afford a house call on a civil servant's salary."

Grissom looked confused.

Lady Heather sighed. "I am here Gilbert as your Guardian Angel"

Grissom cocked an eyebrow, "You're my Guardian Angel."

"Apparently, I am the patron saint of middle-aged, emotionally stunted workaholics. Now do you want to banter all night, or do you want to know why you brought me here?"

Grissom nodded his assent.

Lady Heather began, "Well quite frankly, TPTB have gotten quite weary of you, and so have I."

Grissom looked confused, "TPTB"

Lady Heather sighed, "The Powers That Be. Really Gilbert, you don't sleep very long, and we are never going to get to the point of your dream if you don't start tracking."

Grissom nodded and motioned for her to continue.

"Anyway, you and Sara."

Grissom interrupted, "What about Sara and I? We are getting along just fine."

Lady Heather gave him a withering look. "Just fine is not the point. The point is that the two of you are soul mates. You are meant to be together. The two of you have been given four lives together, one in each of the past four centuries. Yet in each life time you have managed to blow it. Everyone has a soul mate and you have five lifetimes to get together. Once you find each other, when you die, you spend eternity together, and you don't come back for more lives. If you do not find each other after the 5th life, you spend eternity in a void, watching scenes of the happiness that you missed. This is your last time together, and you are messing it up again, so TPTB decided that an intervention was in order."

Grissom was surprised, "Sara and I have known each other before."

Lady Heather nodded, "Think Gilbert, the 1st time you met her, didn't you feel as if you knew her, really knew her." Seeing Grissom's look of confusion she continued. "Alright, in order to clarify, I am going to show you your previous lives together."

Lady Heather clapped her hands. A laser pointer appeared and a screen came down. Grissom was rather surprised to see a PowerPoint Presentation on the screen. He looked questioningly at Lady Heather.

"Yes Gilbert, they even use Microsoft in Heaven."

As Lady Heather began her presentation, but Gilbert interrupted. "You're going to teach me something, is that what the schoolmarm outfit is about."

Lady Heather huffed, "Once again Gilbert it's your dream. Also, the 'Naughty Schoolmarm' is one of the best sellers at Now focus."

Lady Heather began the 1st slide

"1692 Salem, Massachusetts. You were a doctor and apothecary and Sara was a neighbor with an interest in medicine. Since regular medicine was forbidden to women, you taught her about medications and midwifery, since you never liked the mess of childbirth. She was an excellent pupil. You found yourself drawn to her, as you were supposed to be, but felt it would be wrong to act on her feelings since she was your pupil. So as the community in Salem became more against women in midwifery, and distrustful, things became heated. Even though you begged Sara to stop practicing her medical arts for her safety she did not listen to you. She was accused of witchcraft, tried, found guilty and burned at the stake."

Grissom sat there watching each slide, with the final one being condemned and burnt at the stake. One of the faces looked familiar. Grissom looked up, "I knew Ecklie before?"

Heather nodded. "In that life your mistake was not standing up for Sara, and Ecklie's mistake was accusing her in the 1st place. You have both atoned for those errors in this lifetime, you by keeping Sara from being fired, and Ecklie, in his new respect for Sara and his recent work in Nick's rescue.

Lifetime Number 2: 1777, New York. You were a farmer that joined the fight against the British. You were a competent soldier, if a little dreamy. TPTB thought that in the 1st lifetime that you might act upon having Sara as an equal."

Grissom watched the slide show with interest. He saw Sara, cut her hair short, and write a note. She put on men's clothing, packed a bag, cleaned a gun and went into a man's room. She kissed the man on the head and left a note. The note said "Papa" on the front. Grissom was surprised to see that the man was Brass. He looked up at Lady Heather.

"Yes Grissom, Brass was Sara's father. Haven't you noticed how he was always very protective of her?"

Grissom startled with the realization, "Yes but I thought that was because of the Holly Gribbs' case."

Lady Heather allowed herself a tiny smile. "That is what Brass thinks as well. So Sara disguised herself as a man, and joined your battalion. She was assigned to be your partner and tent mate. The two of you got along well, and you were impressed with Sara, who went by the name Aaron, her horsemanship, and gun skills far outpaced your own, and you were both very smart. However, you became confused as you realized that you were falling in love with your tent mate. Sara saw your confusion, and revealed herself to you. You were too stunned to act. Before you could speak, the commander called for you all to go capture a nearby hill. Distracted by the consequences of her revealing her secret, she got misdirected during the moonless night, and was shot and killed. You were killed trying to move her body. However, you have made up for that mistake in this lifetime by protecting her secrets, as she shares them with you."

"Third Life, South Carolina 1892. You were a doctor again, and Sara is now a governess" Grissom watches the slide, not too surprised to see Catherine and Warrick. He notices an inscription above the doorbell. 'The French Palace'

"Catherine was a prostitute?"

Lady Heather smirked, "No Gilbert, well she started out as one, and quickly moved into management. She was the madam there and Warrick was the parlor piano player. Sara was the governess to Catherine's daughter, Elizabeth. Catherine and Warrick were lovers, which was very dangerous in that time. We had all thought that this was going to be the lifetime that the two of you fulfilled your destiny. You began courting, and you even gave her a gift." Grissom watched himself give Sara a lapel watch. She accepted it and they kissed. He began watching in horror as Sara lost the watch during a picnic at the river with Elizabeth and Warrick found it. He returned the watch to Sara at the lake. Sara was so happy about the watch being found that she hugged Warrick and kissed him on the cheek. The sight of a white woman kissing a non-white man did not go unnoticed by the local townsmen, who went and hunted down Warrick and killed him, as Grissom watched unable to help, he also watched as Sara, trying to save him was also killed. Watching this, Grissom could almost understand Catherine's initial strong negative reaction to Sara. She felt that Sara was responsible for the death of her love, then and was at fault now for not getting Eddie's killer.

Grissom started shaking as he watched the scenes unfold. Was it his lot in life to watch Sara suffer lifetime after lifetime? Was his cowardice responsible for his friend's death?

Lady Heather looked at Grissom with near pity. She spoke softly "Grissom, you protected Warrick in this life. It's this life that counts."

Grissom watched as Lady Heather began the final slides. Somehow it did not surprise him to see Nick and Sara during World War II. He watched as he tried to save Sara and Nick, but they were found guilty of being spies against the Nazi's and were both killed. Lady Heather telling him that saving Nick in this life did little to calm his frayed nerves.

Grissom yelled, "Stop, I cannot watch any more of this. What is the point of doing this to me?"

Lady Heather looked at Grissom. "Gilbert, do not fall into self-pity. It's beneath you. This is your final notice. In 12 months, Sara will die. If you connect with her and meet your destiny, you spend eternity together. If not, you don't the choice is yours."

Grissom looked defiant. "No, Sara will not die. This is a dream, my imagination, my subconscious."

Lady Heather looked at Grissom. She snapped at him, losing her cool momentarily. "Gilbert, you can take this dream one of either way, it can either be a cautionary tale about combining Tequila and Hot Wings, or you can see it as your subconscious giving your repressed soul a well disturbed bitch-slap. Once again the choice is yours. Sara dies in twelve months. How you both spend eternity. Your choice."

Grissom looked evenly at Lady Heather, "Two Questions: One, where is Greg?"

Lady Heather allowed herself the tiniest smile. "Don't be foolish, Greg is brand new?"

Grissom contemplated that and then had another thought.

Grissom looked pale, "Did Sara get a message as well?"

Lady Heather gave him a small, satisfied grin, "Why do you think she asked you out after the explosion"

Grissom woke with a start, feeling slightly nauseated. He reached for the notepad he kept by the bed. He often recorded his dreams when he remembered them, as they often provided clues to his cases. Tiny bits of ideas and evidence that his busy mind missed during the day.

He looked over what he had read. Was it true? Had he missed opportunities with her in the past lives? He mulled it over. Grissom decided to get showered and start his day. While in the shower, Grissom thought of the solution to his dilemma about the dream. He would look for a sign, something telling him that this was more than a tequila induced hallucination.

TBC

Chapter Two- Searching for a Sign, coming soon.


	2. Looking For A Sign

Twelve Months Until the Final Goodbye

Chapter 2: Searching for a Sign

Grissom drove aimlessly around Vegas, letting images from his dream the day before run through his head. He had a few hours before he was due in for work, and he desperately needed to get his head around his thoughts of Sara. He was searching for a sign, that his dream last night was more than a tequila induced hallucination that his dream meant that it was time to act.

He pulled into the parking lot of Miss Adele's Antique Shop. He found the organized dusty clutter of the shop comforting, as it reminded him of his office. There in the cool dark quiet, he often found interesting books and drawings of his precious insects, and other curios of a time gone by.

He opened the door, and noticed Miss Adele dusting. He always smiled when he saw the gentle older woman, who could be any age from 60-80, with her grey bun and smiling face. She was a quiet person, as if she knew that sudden noises would disturb the quiet slumber of the items in the store.

She greeted him, calling him "Dr Grissom, sugar." Miss Adele, called everyone sugar. The Queen of England could come here to shop and Miss Adele would probably call her 'Your Majesty, sugar'.

Grissom wandered the aisles of the dusty store, picking objects up and putting them down. He saw the sunlight glimmer of part of the counter, and walked over. Under the glass of the counter, Grissom saw something that made his heart skip a beat.

Miss Adele noticed the change in expression and walked over to ask him if he was ok. Grissom nodded in agreement. She caught the look in his eye as he looked into the case, and took her key to take the object out.

"It's a ladies lapel watch, almost 100 years old. It's very clever actually. A magnet is used to hold the watch to the garment, so you don't ruin your clothing with pin marks. Its Sterling Silver, it requires a little polish, but I could fix that in a jiffy."

With a smile, she handed the watch to Grissom. He traced the pattern on the front of the watch, and opened the watch to see the same flower on the inside. He let out a breath, "Pansies"

Miss Adele smiled, "Yes pansies, you know they are a very romantic flower, they used to be called heart's ease."

Grissom was rooted to the ground. With the exception of being struck by lightning, he couldn't fathom a stronger sign. In an almost dreamlike daze, he told Miss Adele that he would take the watch. Miss Adele was surprised, since Grissom never bought jewelry, and hoped fervently that the person who was to receive this gift, would be gentle with Grissom. Miss Adele pointed to some stationery, and began polishing the watch as Grissom wrote a note. In what seemed like an instant, the watch was wrapped, and Grissom left the store full of resolve.

While seated in his office, Grissom wondered about how he would give Sara the gift. Should he sneak it into her locker? Hold her after assignments. Fortunately, he was spared planning the details, as Sara poked her head in to announce her presence and check up on him.

She was mildly surprised when Grissom asked her to come into his office and shut the door. She was even more surprised when Grissom handed her the bag.

She opened the gift, and read the card and when she looked up; Grissom was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

He cursed silently and jumped up. "Sara, don't you like it?"

Sara smiled through her tears, "It's beautiful, I love pansies, and you know they have been called…"

"Heart's ease". Grissom heart sang. It would be just like Sara to try to impress him with trivia, to try to distract him and give him an out if he was unsure. "Is still the heart's ease that the poets knew Take all the sweetness of a gift unsought, And for the pansies send me back a thought. "

Sara shot back "Sarah Doudney"

"So Sara am I too late."

Sara smiled. In all of his years of watching Sara and her smile, he knew that he would never forget this one. It was full of hope and joy, and a little mischief.

"Almost too late, but for you, an exception can always be made. So dinner on Friday night, where are we going, I need to know what to wear." Sara was trying to make light, trying to keep herself under control, so she would not knock Grissom down and cover him with kisses.

Grissom began to panic. He had not thought that far ahead. He had only known that they both had Friday off. However, an idea came to him and he smiled.

"It's a surprise. Wear something comfortable, but dressy."

Sara looked at the face of her watch. "Grissom, its time to start shift."

Grissom placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her out. She looked at him with a slightly confused look. Grissom looked back at her questioningly.

"Grissom, can I wear this in public. People are going to ask. What do you want to tell them?"

For a moment Grissom was saddened. Was this what his heart's neglect had done to his proud, brave girl? He looked at Sara tenderly and told her that she could wear it anywhere, and give any reason she wanted. He was rewarded with another full Sara smile.

Walking her to the break room, he hoped that the criminal element of Vegas would not be too busy tonight so he could plan their 1st date.


	3. Chapter Three: First Date Confessions

Twelve Months until the Final Good-bye

Chapter 3 First Date Confessions

Grissom sat in his car for a minute, gathering his thoughts before he walked to Sara's appointment to pick her up for their date. He could not remember the last time he was this nervous. Realizing that being late would be a terrible way to start the date and his attempt to right the cosmos, Grissom picked up the bouquet from the seat next to him, walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

Sara opened the door shyly. Grissom just stood there for a moment staring, until he heard a little voice in his head say, 'Greet her and hand her the flowers, idiot.' Almost robotically he did so. Thankfully, Sara was too distracted by her own nerves to notice.

As Sara rummaged through her small apartment to find a vase for the beautiful lavender and white tulips Grissom gave her, he was able to take a moment to drink in her appearance. Sara was dressed in a long, flowing skirt, which registered with Grissom, since the only other time he saw her in a skirt, was on court days, something he never missed. The skirt was black, with small violet flowers printed on it. She wore spaghetti strapped sweater of a soft purple fabric that looked like cashmere and Grissom's first reaction was to lift his hand to stroke the sweater, and the lovely bare shoulder next to the strap. Feeling that the silence had gone on too long went on, Grissom spoke. "Sara, you might want to bring a jacket, I don't want you to get chilly."

Sara, noticing Grissom's black trousers and slate blue shirt, smiled, "Where are we going that I need a jacket?" Her grin was mischievous.

"That, Miss Sidle is a surprise", Grissom smirked back. Sara quirked her left eyebrow in that delicious way that always made Grissom want to kiss the spot on her head where the brow went up, and covered her loveliness with a matching violet cardigan, that instead of buttons, tied with a purple velvet ribbon. For a moment, Grissom entertained the idea of what it would be like to untie that ribbon, slip the cardigan off her shoulders and then kiss her neck while sliding the spaghetti straps off his shoulder, exposing her creamy flesh. He realized that Sara was staring at him. He looked at Sara again and smiled.

"Sara, you look beautiful." He was rewarded with a full blush. The fact that Sara could still blush after witnessing all of the things that a CSI witnesses always delighted Grissom. It also made him privately wonder how far down her body she blushed.

"Th-Thanks" Sara stammered. "Catherine found out that you were taking me out and kidnapped me." She quickly regained her footing. "So, you still notice beauty?" she quipped.

"Every time I look at you" Grissom said coolly. He placed his hand on the small of her back. He looked down at her feet, and besides noticing her purple toenails, he could have sworn that her blush spread down through her toes. He silently thanked the person who invented tequila, and walked Sara to his car.

It seemed like seconds had gone by before they arrived at the marina at Lake Mead. Grissom escorted Sara to the boat he had rented for a private dinner cruise around the lake. It was a small houseboat. The bow had a table set for two and soft cushions by the stern of the boat. Sara looked at him incredulously, "A boat Grissom, you shouldn't have"

Grissom smiled, "I wanted to do something special. I thought being from the bay, you probably miss the water, I know I do. Anyway, I wanted you to myself." Sara blushed again, and protested that this was too extravagant. Grissom told her not to worry.

He also told her that they needed to talk. This made Sara quirk her eyebrow nervously.

Grissom caught the gesture, and tried to give Sara a reassuring smile. While Grissom would never be accused of being a 'people person', he was also not as oblivious as people gave him credit to be. He was extremely cognizant that he and Sara were coming to this date with enough emotional baggage to fill both of their Denali's. He knew they had a lot to talk about, lots of past grievances and misunderstanding to get through if things were truly going to work between them and he wanted to have this discussion in a neutral place, but more importantly, a place where he or Sara could not escape if the conversation turned less than pleasant.

"So Grissom, we need to talk?" Sara said nervously. That is not usually a first date phrase"

Grissom looked at Sara evenly. "This is not a usual first date. We've had this date with each other from the beginning."

Sara was beginning to look confused. "You're quoting from A Streetcar Named Desire?  Are you planning on throwing me on your shoulder and run around the lab yelling 'Saaaara'.

Grissom looked at her oddly. "That was not what I meant. We have been dancing around this since the beginning."

Sara began to get defensive, "Beginning of what Grissom?"

Grissom looked at her with the same curiousness that he would regard one of his experiments with "Since the beginning of time. We have been dancing around our feelings for each other since the beginning of time."

Sara began walking around Grissom. "I have never danced with you. I try to take two steps forward, but you always push me one step back. When you pull me one step ahead, you then push me two steps back. I would move faster if I stood still."

Grissom began to sweat lightly. This was not going well. "Sara, what I wanted to say was we've had a lot of mixed signals and misunderstandings over the past five years."

Sara gave Grissom a look that would have given the sun frostbite. He cleared his throat and continued.

"Many of these misunderstandings have been my fault."

Sara's look was slightly warmer. The sun might only need a hat and mittens at this point.

"Ok, the vast majority of the misunderstandings and mixed signals were my fault."

Sara smiled at him and laughed a little. Grissom felt the room begin to warm up. He was glad when the waiter came to announce that dinner was ready.

During the delicious and innovative vegetarian meal, they kept the topics safe. After they finished eating, they each took a glass of wine and sat on the front of the boat and watched the sunset along the lake.

Grissom cleared his throat, indicating that he wanted to continue their before dinner discussion. "What I don't understand Sara, is why you kept up the pursuit. Any reasonable woman would have given up long ago."

Sara looked at him, "No one has ever accused me of being reasonable, Grissom."

Grissom knew that they were heading into dangerous territory, however, something kept on driving him with the conversation. Grissom also knew that he desperately wanted to cleanse himself and Sara of the past five years of mixed signals and jealousies that they shared towards and with each other, and start fresh and innocent.

What I don't comprehend is why me? A woman like you could have anyone she wants.

Sara was trying to keep her temper in check; she spoke through nearly clenched teeth, "Que les besoins de couer, la raison ne puet- il pas sander"

Grissom nodded, "What the heart wants, reason cannot comprehend. Who said that?"

The tension broken momentarily, Sara gave a small tense smile "I just did." Grissom smiled back. Sara went on, "Grissom what I don't understand is why all of the questions? I thought this would be a date."

Grissom thought for a moment and tried to explain to Sara, "I know this seems odd, even for me, but I am afraid. I also feel that I owe you explanations."

Sara looked at Grissom incredulously, "While I am curious Grissom about the reasons you do things, you don't owe me an explanation, if you are ready to give yourself to me, I am ready to accept it. Although I must admit, I am curious about why you are ready to take the risk now. Why now?"

Grissom looked at Sara with a creeping dread entering his heart. "You heard what I told Dr. Lurie?"

Sara nodded. Grissom went on, "And you still love me?"

Sara nodded again.

"Why?"

Sara became annoyed, "I don't know why Grissom. Does anyone know why people feel anything? Tell me Grissom, why are you pursuing me, why now; was it the attack on me, the attack on Nicky, why?"

Grissom stood there thinking. He did not know a whole lot about women, but he knew that telling Sara that Lady Heather appeared to him in a dream telling him that he had wasted four lifetimes not pursuing her was not going to be taken well. He shrugged. Then he thought of a partial truth.

"I had a dream the other night. I dreamt I was too late. When I woke up I was terrified to think that I was too late, and knew that if I didn't do something soon, it would be."

Sara nodded, accepting that. "What did you mean by not being able to take the risk?"

Grissom steeled himself. Maybe this was not his best idea. He desperately hoped that he would survive baring his soul this way. Lady Heather was right. His greatest fear was being known. For Sara's sake, and his own though he had to face his fear.

"I was afraid of how wonderful it would be with the two of us. And then like Debbie to Dr. Lurie, you would take it away. Fall in love with someone normal, someone your own age, like Nick, or David, or even Greg."

Sara snorted, "Grissom, if I had wanted any of them, I could have had them. But I am not attracted to any of them, I want you."

Grissom regarded that statement. "You do now, but what about when you don't want me anymore? I couldn't take the risk of having all of you, and then having it taken away. I thought I was better off having a little bit of you every day, and enjoying it while it lasted. It's cowardly of me, I know."

Sara stood there completely speechless. She could not believe what Grissom was telling her. Later, when she was alone, she would ponder what truth serum Grissom took to transform him into an open book, but the curious side of her knew she needed to take advantage of this moment to answer as many of the questions that burned in her heart and keep her from attaining the little sleep that she actually did need.

"Why did you take Sofia to dinner? Especially after I told you everything? I told you secrets. The things I told you, I have only told to people I pay to listen to me."

Grissom knew that was coming. He knew he should have told Sara about that dinner and his reasons, but that was before his revelation, when he was hoping that Sara would move on to someone else. At the time it seemed to work. He had thought that she was falling for Greg. He had tried to be happy about it. Greg was such an innocent soul. He knew that Greg would adore Sara and treat her well and give her his whole heart. Until recently, Grissom did not think he was capable of giving his whole heart to anyone, but was thankful that he learned in time that not only could he do it, but he desperately wanted to do it as well. Grissom was so deep into his reverie that he just began to notice Sara's tapping her feet impatiently. Sara looked at him inquisitively. "Grissom, dinner with Sofia?"

Grissom nodded. "Sofia was leaving and I wanted to talk her into staying. I wanted to enlist her support of you and the team. I also knew that she had dated someone on her team and wanted her advice about how to handle the situation. I did not realize that she was interested in me, or made the dinner out to be more than it was. I am sorry if that hurt you, Sara."

Sara regarded Grissom for a moment, deciding if she wanted to go on with the conversation. She made up her mind to continue, "It devastated me at first, but not for the reasons you think. Do you know why I went to Harvard?"

"Because its one of the finest Universities in the country?"

"Well, that was one reason, but I could have gone to Stanford or Caltech and gotten just as fine of an education there. I moved 3000 miles away from home so I could escape being 'foster care girl' or 'the girl whose mom killed her dad.' I never told anyone at work about my past.

Grissom nodded, "I always wondered about that. We all would have understood."

Sara looked at him and stated forcefully, "I did not want them to understand. I didn't want to be 'Sara Sidle' abuse victim. I wanted to be 'Sara Sidle' CSI. Anyway, people don't really want to know, if they wanted to know they would have asked me. People say that they want to know all about their co-workers, but they don't. It's just how no one really wants to know why cases about sexually abused boys really bother Nick."

Grissom stopped cold as he regarded the truth about Sara's words. With those words, a lot about Nick made sense. "And Nick told you about himself?

Sara shook her head. Grissom looked at her. "Then you would know about this how."

Sara answered so softly that Grissom had to strain to hear, "The phrase; takes one to know one is more than a childish taunt."

Grissom stood rooted to the ground. "Were you afraid that people would treat you differently if they found out?

Sara shook her head again, "My greatest fear was that I would tell someone the truth about myself and they would push me away. And when you asked Sofia to dinner after our talk, my fear had been realized."

Grissom grabbed her hand, "My God Sara, I didn't realize."

Sara looked at Grissom sadly, "I didn't expect you to realize. But you know something. I thought that the whole thing would break me. But it didn't it made me stronger. Having your greatest fear realized is very freeing. It gave me the strength to move forward, and accept that my life would be fine, either with you or without you."

Grissom looked at Sara stricken. This talk had been a bad idea. He was going to lose Sara before they even began. He began to think that being a lonely coward was far better than being a lonely fool. He was about to turn away in defeat when he felt her cool hand stroke his cheek. He put his had over hers, brought it to his lips and kissed it. Sara sighed, and gave him a look filled with such love, that he thought if his life ended at that moment, he could die a happy man. "However, Grissom I realized that while I can be fine without you, I would be much happier with you."

Grissom gave Sara a grin that took ten years off of her. He smiled, and told her that he was sorry for everything, and hoped that she would forgive him for the callousness and the obliviousness. The kiss on the cheek was all the answer he needed. He went to pull her in for a kiss, when it started to drizzle; he grabbed her hand and brought her to a shady part of the boat, and held her close. As quickly as the drizzle began, it stopped and the moon came out in its entire splendor. Grissom led Sara back out to the front of the boat and looked at her in the moonlight. The combination of the droplets of rain that clung to Sara and the lights from the lake and the moonlight made her glimmer. Grissom took her and kissed her deeply. He used his lips to convey all of the words of love that his voice was aching to form. They kissed and smiled, and felt each other being made whole.

Grissom smiled at Sara. "Would you like to dance?"

Sara grinned a wicked grin, "I thought that you didn't know how."

Grissom took her hand. "For the right person I can learn."

Grissom walked over to the CD player and hit the play button. They held each other closely as Ella Fitzgerald began to sing;

_It's very clear; our love is here to stay_

_Not for a year, but forever and day_

_In time the Rockies may crumble_

_Gibraltar may tumble_

_They're only made of clay_

_But_

_Our love is here to stay._

TBC

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 3. I had originally thought 4 chapters, but I am now thinking 5 or six. As long as you are reading, I will be writing.

A/N: Look for Chapter 4: The Courtship. Hopefully coming sooner, rather than later.

I also think that Gershwin is in the public domain.


	4. The Courtship and Marriage of Grissom an...

Twelve Months until the Final Goodbye

Chapter 4- The Courtship and Marriage of Grissom and Sara

The first date went so well, that Grissom asked her on their second date he stopped the car at her apartment. She agreed to the date before he cut the engine.

On their second date, Grissom took Sara to the woods for an evening of star gazing. Sara had wondered briefly if Grissom remembered the comment she made about this spot being an ideal make-out location. She was thrilled, when Grissom's toe curling kisses reassured her that he did not forget that comment. The spent the evening kissing, talking and pointing out constellations and telling their stories. Sara especially liked Grissom's game of tracing each constellation with kisses on the back of her neck.

For their third date, Sara invited Grissom to a drive-in to watch 'Batman Begins'. However, if you asked them how they liked the movie, all they would have been able to do is blush and shrug as they spent the movie making out and steaming up the windows of Sara's Denali.

For their fourth date, Grissom invited Sara to his townhouse for dinner and an evening of the Discovery Channel. Sara absently asked Grissom what she should bring with her that night, trying to guess if he would prefer pizza or Chinese. When suggested a toothbrush and a change of clothes, she nearly fell over.

The day of their fourth date, they ended up working a double shift that involved a wretchedly stenched decomp. Sara was on the verge of tears thinking their date was ruined before it even began. Her despair turned quickly to joy when Grissom surprised her at the end of the shift with a bag of lemons, and an invitation to shower at his house.

When Grissom and Sara got to his town home, they looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. Being a gentleman, he offered Sara the shower first. Sara, being a good team player, asked him to join her so they could ensure that they became as clean as possible. He joined her happily, and at the end of the shower, they were probably the cleanest either of them had been since their 1st bath as infants.

Sara and Grissom made love for the first time that night. Grissom was nervous. More nervous than he was the night he lost his virginity. When he had been nervous before his encounters with other women, he would just detach himself and look as the encounter as an experiment. He would touch and kiss the woman and note the reaction that each touch or caress rendered. He knew that this would not work with Sara. With Sara he could not compartmentalize. She deserved nothing less than all of him. His full mind and his full heart, along with his body.

After their shower, Sara rubbed Grissom down with her favorite lotion, he couldn't decide if he was more touched or aroused at her pampering him. When he realized that she was covered in Sara's unique scent, from the warmth of her hands and the honeysuckle cinnamon body lotion, he decided that arousal would win out this time. Eagerly Grissom returned the favor, slowly rubbing the lotion into her body. He used the self-control that kept him for making advances towards her all of those past years for good instead of heartbreak, by being able to continue the massage, occasionally using his lips where his hands had been. A man of lesser control would have thrown Sara down on the nearest flat surface and plunged his painful hardness into her, especially as she began to moan, especially as he began to rub the lotion into her small, but yearningly sensitive breasts. There would not have been a man or woman alive who would have blamed Grissom for losing control during the massage, especially as her moans became replaced by whimpers as he smoothed the lotion over her inner thighs using his hands. Even Job himself would have lost patience as he felt Sara quiver, when he used his lips to catch a drop of moisture that beaded down from the center of her sensual universe. But if Grissom knew one thing, it was that all of those years of self-control were about to have the payoff of a lifetime. Grissom stood up, looked Sara in the eyes and took her hand. He told her that he loved her, that she was beautiful, that her being there with him made his every dream come true. Then by the hand he led her to his bedroom, where Sara surprised him by pushing him down on the bed and straddling him, greedy with need. Grissom sat up, and wrapped his arms around Sara, feeling her ride up and down his steel center, and they began passionately kissing, lips and tongues exploring each other until they each exploded in the light of love, Sara first, with the vibrations of her body pushing Grissom over the edge. Sweaty and satisfied, they stayed sitting up, kissing each other, and stroking each other's face, enjoying the way that the moonlight from Grissom's window silhouetted their bodies, until they were ready to start again. Grissom was surprised at how quickly he was ready to make love again. He gently laid Sara on her back and lay on top of her. Kissing her gently as he entered her again and they joined together quietly, content in feeling each other breathe and react to the hardness and moistness of the other until they both climaxed, Grissom first, and Sara moved by the thunderous pulsing of Grissom's orgasm. Sated, they lay on the bed, holding hands and talking quietly about everything and nothing, until they each drifted off to sleep.

Before their fourth date, either Grissom or Sara would have described themselves as very sexual beings. After their fourth date, it would be one of the first adjectives that came to their minds.

After their fourth date, Grissom went to Ecklie and told him about the relationship. He let Ecklie know that he would leave the lab, before anyone hurt Sara over their relationship. Ecklie, greatly mellowed after the ordeal with Nick, was agreeable to the situation. Although Ecklie would rather die than admit it, he was jealous of Grissom. Not Grissom's intellect or scientific skills, as a casual observer would imagine, but the way Grissom had the total confidence and loyalty of his team, despite his lack of appreciable people skills.

Grissom worked out a solution to the supervisor/subordinate issue. He split the night shift into two teams. Grissom supervised, Sofia, Nick, and Warrick. Catherine supervised Greg and Sara. Before the change happened, Grissom talked to both Sara and Catherine separately and together about their issues with each other. Sara and Catherine were both too stunned at Grissom noticing their dynamic and the fact that he had paid attention to their issues to argue with each other. Once Grissom left the room, they went out for a run and worked things out for themselves. They liked each other enough to agree that they would not always get along, but like any good family could have their fights and get over their differences.

Catherine was sad about officially losing her place as Grissom's most trusted confidante, but her sadness was eclipsed at her joy at seeing her friend and mentor filled with joy and delight at the change in his life.

After their fourth date, Grissom and Sara told the team that they were dating. Word spread through the lab like wildfire/ Grissom couldn't decide whether to be angry or amused as Trudy, the personnel manager came in and kissed him and Sara and thanked them for making her the winner in the Geeklove office pool. Apparently after Sara arrived people could pick a week out of each year and place $100 on that week. With five years of unresolved Grissom/Sara issues, and a favorable interest rate, Trudy won over $26,000. She began planning a trip to Aruba and invited Nick.

After their first date, they began to have breakfast together every day after shift. Sometimes they would go to the diner, but they would mostly get coffee and muffins and find a place to people watch, each trying to outdo the other in finding the best location.

After one month of dating, Grissom asked Sara to live with him. As much as he treasured the memories of their first and subsequent nights together in his townhouse and her apartment, he wanted the place that they would create their new life together with all of the wonderful new memories he was anticipating to be absent of the longing, yearnings and hurt feelings that the walls of their current homes held.

They bought a charming three bedroom bungalow, with a yard, trees, and a built in home office. Remembering a story Sara told him of being jealous as a child of a friend with a canopy bed, he surprised her with a king canopy bed, with gauzy purple curtains surrounding the bed. They both enjoyed the mission style headboard, and enjoyed taking turns tying each other to it with silk scarves.

Sara surprised Grissom, with a refrigerator for their home office, so he could keep his experiments close to his workspace and avoid fights about separating the food from the blood.

They did have their fights, and learned to fight fair. Grissom learned to never eat the chocolate from Sara's secret stash, as he found out it was her emergency PMS chocolate. Sara learned that even though Grissom acted unfazed by his experiments, that the meat had to go in the food refrigerator.

Grissom got Sara interested enough in crossword puzzles to sit with him each Sunday and do the New York Times puzzle with him. The fact that Sara insisted that they do the puzzle naked probably helped. Grissom would keep score and the winner would choose the bedroom activities for later in the evening. Sara tried to get Grissom interested in doing the yoga she relied on to keep her relaxed and flexible. Unfortunately, every time she tried to show him downward dog, he would grab her from behind and barely get her yoga pants off before he would take her.

After three months Grissom proposed. He took her to the body farm, because she always wanted to go. He had packed a picnic and had planned to propose to her in the same place they went stargazing, but he was so overcome by her joy and excitement about being at the body farm that while he got down on one knee and proposed to her right there in front of a group of decaying partiers. Sara happily accepted, pulled him to his feet and kissed him. The ring he gave her was beautiful, a one carat diamond in a basket cut so she could wear it under her gloves, with sapphires on either side in a platinum band.

One month later they married. Even though they were nocturnal creatures, they had the wedding on a Sunday morning so the entire nightshift could participate. They decided to get married in a cottage by Lake Mead. Catherine was the maid of honor and Nick the best man. Lindsey was the flower girl, and to keep her protests about being too old to be flower girl at bay, Greg was the ring bearer. Greg was adoring, Lindsay was cooperative and Catherine was grateful. Doc Robbins became ordained over the internet so he could marry the two of them.

Warrick was in charge of the music, and played jazz music of his own composing on the piano, with some friends he jammed with accompanying him. All of the men in the wedding party wore purple pansies as boutonnières. Nick escorted Grissom's mother to her seat and then he and Grissom took their place at the altar. Greg and Lindsey walked down the aisle as Lindsey scattered rose and pansy petals. Catherine walked down the aisle. The gathering of friends and family stood, as Warrick picked up his electric guitar and began to play Pachibel's Canon on it. A hush fell over the group as they saw Sara enter the room on Brass' arm. When Sara asked him to give her away, he was so moved he cried. With Sara on his arm, the smile on Brass' face seemed to melt away a decade of cynicism and hardness from his soul. When he looked at Sara beaming in her gown and veil as a beam of sunlight hit her face, he felt a strange sense of peace in his soul, as if an ancient wrong was made right.

Sara was beauty herself. The gown she picked was simple; it had an empire waist and a long skirt that flowed gently. Sara secretly loved the novels of Jane Austen, and when she tried the dress on in the bridal store, felt like an Austen heroine. Catherine had styled her hair half up and half down and had secured her veil with a small crystal set headband.

When Sara saw her Grissom waiting at the end of the aisle, her face lit up with a smile that turned her into the walking embodiment of every poem, sonnet and song about beauty.

They were joined in marriage by Doc Robbins, choosing traditional vows. They had written their own vows, but being private people, decided to say them to each other that evening in the privacy of their honeymoon suite. After being pronounced husband and wife they kissed passionately, with such pure hearts, that it made everyone in the room think of the most perfect kiss they had ever received.

During the reception, their were toasts, and stories, dancing and jokes, hugs and tears of joy as they all celebrated the love of their friends and the witnessing of what many of them considered a miracle; unrequited love becoming whole.

They did all the traditional wedding things, since Grissom was secretly traditional. Sara tossed the bouquet; Grissom removed her garter, which was caught by Catherine and Warrick respectively.

When the cake was wheeled out, it was hard to tell who was more delighted, Grissom when he noticed that the cake was decorated with delicate renderings of ladybugs, butterflies and dragon flies, or Sara enjoying Grissom's delight.

Some found it odd that Sara still called her love Grissom, but she knew that Grissom was never thrilled with his name. Her pet name for him was Gilbug, and in bed she called him whatever endearment his body made her scream. Grissom called her Princess.

The reception seemed too long and too short at the same time. They enjoyed celebrating with their friends, but they were eager to be alone with each other. They said farewell to their final guests, and went to the honeymoon suite that was on the grounds of the resort. The honeymoon suite was a private cabin on the grounds of the lake.

Sara stood in front of Grissom in a short ivory nightgown. She normally did not like nightgowns, but figured that it would not be on long enough to annoy her. Grissom stood in front of her in the midnight blue silk boxers she had chosen for him. He liked the feel of the silk against his body, but preferred Sara to silk and hoped that he would feel her against him soon.

They stood holding each other's hands as they recited the vows they had wrote to each other. When they were done saying their vows, they held each other close and let their bodies make a second set of private vows.

TBC

A/N: If you like happy fluffy GSR stories make this your last chapter. For the angst muse, she is calling me. I am hoping to have the fifth and final chapter up soon.


	5. The Final Goodbye

Twelve Months until the Final Goodbye

Chapter 5: The Final Goodbye

The marriage was truly one made in heaven. They bickered occasionally, but never went to bed angry. Grissom tried to hide how protective he was of Sara by pairing her with Warrick or making sure that Brass was on the scene. During their first few months they were blissful until the sudden death of Grissom's mother. Sara and Grissom went back to Los Angeles, and she was by his side, and Gilbert drew comfort from his true love, while burying his first love.

After the funeral and the settling of Victoria Grissom's estate, they returned to Vegas. Grissom could feel himself slipping into the darkness that sometimes overtook him and tried to bury his sadness by closing off. It had always worked in the past. However, the past was as distant a memory as sleeping alone, and with Sara there to talk with laugh with and make love with, he found himself slowly climbing out of his dark place. Six months into their marriage, he snuck up on Sara while she was at the computer and found her at a preconception website. He smiled at her. She looked at him tentatively. At one time Grissom might have thought he would be more likely to go to Mars than offer to buy a basal thermometer, but that was the old Gil Grissom. The new Gil Grissom began to plan on having a baby. He and Sara would take her temperature upon waking, and make love when they thought it was the right time, and make love when they thought it was the wrong time, and made love all of the times in between, just to make sure.

Almost too quickly, the one year anniversary of his dream of Lady Heather and their past lives came and went. Although the scientist in Grissom, eschewed dreams and superstitions, he scheduled himself and Sara to be off that day, and insisted that they divide their time between the canopy bed and the chair and ½ that faced a large mirror.

Three weeks after that day, Sara announced she was late. She said she might have noticed earlier if she hadn't had to pee every ten minutes. She told Grissom she would meet him at home after shift, since she needed to go to the drugstore.

At the store, Sara was astounded at the different kinds of tests available. She noticed a woman around her age with a three year old, holding a couple of boxes, and she started a conversation with the woman. Sara was distracted by the woman, and her adorable daughter with red curls like her mom and grey green eyes that probably belonged to the girl's father, she did not notice the suspicious character come into the drugstore. The man in the ski mask and trench coat was obviously high, and was not pleased to find out that drugstores do not regularly carry a supply of Oxycotin. Sara called 911 while the would-be thief was distracted. She motioned for the red head to move away with her daughter, however in their haste to escape, they knocked over a display stand of Pepto-Bismol and the noise distracted the crazed thief, he waved his gun towards the woman and went to grab the child, lucent enough in his drug crazed haze to hear the sirens and realize that a young hostage would get him out. Sara, growing desperate, showed the man her badge, and tried to convince him that a police officer would be a far more valuable hostage than a child. The man growing more frightened dropped the child, who kicked him in the shins before running to her mother. This made him drop his gun, Sara crashed to the floor to try to get the gun, but the man was faster, grabbed the gun and first hit Sara in the head with it. Sara, angry and running on adrenaline, forgot her training and tried to get up; it was then that he shot Sara in the stomach. Sara fell to the ground, trying to hold her wound to stop the bleeding as the world around her spun around and became black.

Sara's room in the ICU was white and deathly silent, much like Sara herself. The whole group was waiting outside the room, waiting for word. The doctor spoke to Grissom about head wounds, and blood loss, lucky strikes and brain death, and Grissom understood that the Sara on the bed was not his Sara, but rather the shell of his Sara. As he brushed tears from his eyes he realized that his Sara was gone. She left him. He was too late to save her, and just like she had promised all those years ago when he turned down her dinner date that one day she would be gone. Sara was gone, and save the memories he had nothing.

Grissom signed the paperwork to turn off the machines and donate her organs. He went outside to tell the group, and let them file in for their final goodbyes before he shut down the support machines. He started to walk down the hall to find a quiet place where he could rage, and weep and gather himself together before he said that final goodbye he was promised a year ago.

Grissom began to sob. As he felt the tears coming from his eyes he looked around for a tissue. He saw one being handed to him. He noted the blood red polish and thought for a minute how that was not really Catherine's color. He looked up and saw a somber Lady Heather, dressed in clothes that would have perfectly suited a Victorian mourner, had they also been a dominatrix. She looked at her and snapped.

"What are you doing here?"

"You tell me Grissom. You called me, remember?"

"How could this happen. It's been longer than 12 months. You told me I had 12 months. Since it was more than 12 months I knew it had to be a dream." Grissom knew he sounded petulant, like a child who was denied his favorite toy but he did not care. He was also cognizant enough to know that he was having a conversation with the adult equivalent of an imaginary friend, and he did not care. Gil Grissom was going to have to go back into that hospital room in a minute and say goodbye to his true love, and he knew he had to get his rage out. He yelled and cursed about the unfairness of it all, and kept on repeating that it had been less than 12 months. Lady Heather let him go on for a minute and then put up one immaculately manicured fingernail.

"Grissom, get over the 12 month issue. This is not one of your experiments. The universe is not a math problem, it is life and life is messy and not always on time. She was going to die Grissom whether you acted on your love for her or not. Do you think this moment would be any easier if you had hid your feelings behind your rationalizations and your bugs, and your silly little quirks? IF you did that, you would not only be mourning Sara, but a million lost chances and regrets.

Grissom was silent. He could never argue with the direction the evidence pointed him in and this evidence was providing the guidance of the North Star. He flung himself into Lady Heather's arms and began to weep anew. Heather lifted Grissom's head and looked into his wet eyes with her calm ones and began to speak in a soothing tone

"Gilbert, I did not come here to argue with you or tell you the why's of what happened. I came to tell you that you have a decision to make."

"A decision?"

"You can go with her"

Grissom looked confused. Lady Heather continued. "Do you remember the Ashleigh James case? Do you remember Cassie and what she said?"

Grissom looked helpless for a minute as he tried to focus his attention to both Sara and the case from so long ago.

Lady Heather took his hand. "Cassie James had talked to you about going through a thousand lives until you found your own, she also talked about finding the thing that you need and that when you find it, you are finally able to sleep the most perfect sleep. Tell me Gilbert, what sleep could be more perfect?

Heather continued, "You have set the universe right. By finding your way with Sara, you found yourself and saved her from the darkness that follows her. You proved to your friends and family that true love trumps evil, trumps cynicism and is the purest power in the universe."

Grissom smirked, in spite of himself. He never imagined hearing words like that outside of a comic book, and most certainly not from Lady Heather.

"Fine then Lady Heather, what do I win?"

Lady Heather was glad to see that Grissom had calmed down and would listen to reason. "What you win eternity with Sara. Your decision is eternity now? Or eternity later?"

Lady Heather smiled at Grissom, "Gilbert, its time for me to go. Someone is waiting for you." Grissom turned his head to see Sara. Not the pale form of Sara who was lying on the hospital bed with the life slowly ebbing from her, but his Sara, in the skirt and sweater set she wore on their first date, with her hair curly and a small smile on her lovely lips.

Grissom looked at the vision of Sara. He thought he was truly hallucinating when she raised her eyebrow, "Lady Heather is your Guardian Angel?" Grissom just blushed and looked embarrassed. "Apparently she is the patron saint of repressed, middle aged workaholic men?" Sara grinned. "Whatever Grissom its fine. Just don't think we won't be having a long discussion about this during the afterlife."

Grissom looked at Sara, "Did you have a Guardian Angel?" Sara nodded. "Greg" Grissom looked surprised. Sara met his gaze "Explains a lot, doesn't it?"

Sara smiled, took Grissom's hand and walked him back to her room. When she saw the group in her room. Sara stopped smiling and her expression turned serious, as Grissom nodded at Catherine and she shepherded the group out of the room. Sara touched each of her friends as they walked out. Once they were all gone, Sara looked at Grissom curiously. "Was everything explained to you?"

Grissom nodded. He looked at both Sara's and focused his attention on the one standing in front of him. For a minute he regretfully thought of all the years he did not 'see' Sara.

"Gilbug" Grissom straighten quickly at the sound of Sara calling him by his pet name. "Baby, I'll understand if you don't want to come with me now. It is going to be hard enough for everyone when I'm gone." She motioned outside of the room. "They all need you. The lab needs you."

Grissom looked at Sara. "You need me Sara. That is the only thing that matters now."

Sara looked at Grissom with the thoughtful clear eyed look. The one that scared suspects more than any threats or shouting. The look from her eyes seemed to be able to reach the depth of Grissom's mind and his soul.

Sara nodded. "Grissom, it's just that eternity is a long time. If you want to come, I want it to be because you want to be with me, not because you are regretting all the times before when you thought I needed you, and you weren't there."

Grissom put both of his hands in Sara's. "My only regret is that it nearly took me an eternity to find us. Please take me Sara. I am ready to go now."

Sara nodded. She walked closer to the shell of Sara Sidle Grissom that was lying on the hospital bed. She sat one side of the Sara on the bed, and after Grissom turned off the machine, she motioned for Grissom to sit on the other side and take one hand from each of the Sara's. Grissom did. Sara took her free hand and laid it on Grissom's heart and looked into his eyes as they breathed together slowly and more slowly still, until Grissom and Sara stopped breathing altogether, and fell into the one perfect sleep that no nightmare could mar.

Moments later, Catherine walked into the room with a cup of coffee to help Grissom through the long vigil. When she saw Grissom relaxed in the bed next to Sara, she became nervous. She could not believe that Grissom would sleep at a time like this. Then she looked at the EKG monitor hooked up to Sara and noticed that it had a thin flat line and made no sound. When she went to rouse Grissom, she was somehow not surprised when he did not respond...

Catherine shook her head. "Couldn't live without her for five minutes, could you bugman?" She kissed Grissom on the cheek. "Rest in peace Grissom". She walked over to Sara, and brushed her hair out of her face. "Take good care of him sweetie. Don't worry about us. We understand." With tears streaming down her cheeks, she walked out of the room to tell the others.


	6. Epilogue

Twelve Months until the Final Goodbye- Epilogue

There was a memorial, but no funeral. Grissom's will had dictated that his body be sent to the body farm upon his passing, so even though he was no longer with them, his body would feed the bugs and knowledge that he loved so deeply. Knowing that they would want to be together in death as in life, they also sent Sara's body to the body farm.

The group was mildly surprised to discover that Sara and Grissom were both wealthy. Grissom had left his money to fund scholarships in forensic science and entomology, and a small scholarship to the local school for the deaf.

Sara left her worldly possession to be split between a victim's rights advocacy group and a local shelter for people escaping abusive relationships. She also left a small stipend to keep the Las Vegas lab in Blue Hawaiian Coffee until the last member of the original night shift retired. She left that stipend with a note thanking Greg for everything he had done for her. Greg was initially mystified, but Sara came to him in one of his dreams, and explained everything.

Within a year of Grissom's and Sara's death, Warrick and Catherine eloped. They were rewarded a year after that with a little boy with clear Green eyes and curly hair that loved bugs. They named him Grissom Brown. Nicky and Trudy were married six months after Grissom and Sara's death and within two years had a baby girl with brown eyes and brown curly hair. Of course she was named Sara. Of course she was brilliant, and stubborn. Of course twenty three years after the death of Grissom and Sara, the group reunited in a church and watched Grissom Brown and Sara Stokes become one family in marriage.

Sara and Grissom watching from heaven, were more than pleased.

The End

A/N: Thanks to all who read this story. I finally finished a chapter story. Yay me!

Special thanks to my muses, Ms Grits, Scully as Trinity and CSINUT214, to name a few. Your work makes me try harder.

A special thanks to Corrina McDonald and her story "Like Cinderella" which in a roundabout way gave me the idea.


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